The Reincarnated Lizardman Wants a Hamburger

Mari was the first to notice Kurt’s change.

Since she had always been in the same party as him, it was only natural that she would quickly pick up on his transformation.

Kurt’s expression seemed dissatisfied, as if he wasn’t content with something.

It was strange.

After all, there was absolutely no reason for Kurt to be dissatisfied at this moment.

When he first brought the crepe from the kitchen, his confident expression suggested there was no issue with the dish. Not only had he achieved his initial goal of comforting Arisa, but he was also enjoying the DIY crepe he had prepared.

From Kurt’s perspective, everything had gone according to plan, creating an ideal situation.

There was no reason for him to be dissatisfied.

“Why… why are you like this…?”

So Mari asked.

Her voice trembled with unease, as if she sensed something was wrong.

“First, let me ask you something.”

“What is it…?”

“While eating the crepe, I noticed you didn’t add any of this chocolate whipped cream or chocolate syrup. Is there a reason for that?”

“Oh, that? It’s called chocolate whipped cream? Well, of course.”

“…Of course?”

Mari realized Kurt’s question was simpler than she thought and answered with a light expression.

“Well, if you can make and eat any dessert you want, you’d usually either stick to your favorite combination or try something luxurious you’ve never dared to before, right? Especially when it comes to toppings you’ve never even heard of…”

That’s right.

The DIY method Kurt had adopted for this dessert party was completely unsuitable for promoting chocolate whipped cream from the start.

If Kurt had served a crepe with chocolate whipped cream from the beginning, even if it was an unknown ingredient, there would be no escape since the dish was already prepared.

That’s why people usually eat dishes with questionable or disliked ingredients without much fuss.

But when you can choose the ingredients yourself, it’s a different story.

In that case, there’s no need to take the risk of choosing suspicious ingredients with unknown flavors.

Naturally, people tend to choose familiar flavors or ones they’ve always wanted to try.

Moreover, in this world, desserts that require large amounts of sugar are considered high-class cuisine.

People generally become more conservative when faced with important, rare, or expensive choices.

Originally, Kurt would have known this well and prepared a stage where chocolate whipped cream could shine. However, he had discovered cocoa powder after already planning the evening meal, and his excitement over reuniting with cocoa powder after decades led to his mistake.

“…I see. Then there’s nothing to be done.”

“But why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

“That’s not important… Instead, can I make you a crepe?”

Without waiting for Mari’s answer, Kurt began making the crepe.

“That’s fine, but… wait, is that chocolate whipped cream…? Are you really putting that much in? Wait, I’m not mentally prepared yet… Ugh!”

Before Mari could fully grasp the situation, the chocolate whipped cream crepe was already ravaging her mouth.

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Liche, who had been elegantly cutting her crepe with a fork and knife, suddenly felt something was off and looked up.

The voices of Yuri and Mari, who had been noisily eating their own crepes on either side, had suddenly gone silent.

When she looked up, the first thing she saw was Kurt, whose eyes seemed deeper than usual.

“What is it? Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Nothing much. Here, take this.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Kurt naturally handed her the crepe, and Liche, accepting it just as naturally, soon regained her composure and shouted.

“Wait a minute! This is the cream made from that medicine bought from the Goblin Company!”

“Tch. It didn’t work on you. It worked on Yuri, though.”

“Huh? What did you say!? Yuri!”

Liche immediately turned to look at Yuri.

But there, Yuri was happily eating the crepe filled with chocolate whipped cream that Kurt had presumably given her.

“Oh no…! While I was focused on the crepe…!”

Seeing Yuri like that, Liche tried to stop her from eating the chocolate whipped cream crepe.

But before she could grab Yuri’s hand, someone else grabbed hers first.

It was none other than Mari.

“Mari! It’s a disaster! Yuri ate food made with some mysterious powder bought from that shady Goblin Company! If we don’t stop her soon…!”

But Liche’s words were cut short.

She noticed traces of fluffy chocolate whipped cream on Mari’s lips.

“Don’t tell me Mari, too!?”

“Liche, why are you trying to stop me from eating the chocolate whipped cream crepe? Instead, why don’t you try it too?”

Mari, with a somewhat dangerous look in her eyes, offered the chocolate whipped cream crepe to Liche.

Liche finally looked around.

Yuri was greedily devouring the chocolate whipped cream crepe, Mari had already finished one, leaving only traces of chocolate whipped cream on her plate, and even Arisa was quietly eating a mix of white cream and chocolate whipped cream.

“E-everyone, snap out of it…!”

“To think I only discovered such delicious food now… I feel like I’ve wasted half my life.”

“But on the other hand, eating this chocolate whipped cream is like gaining half a life.”

“Y-Yuri, Mari…”

“Here, Liche, try this chocolate whipped cream crepe.”

“Don’t worry, there’s plenty of chocolate whipped cream left.”

She desperately resisted, but as a Wizard, her body was naturally weaker than other human races, and there was no way she could overpower the two.

Soon, the chocolate whipped cream crepe was mercilessly shoved into her mouth.

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.

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“Ugh…! Ugh!”

Liche, who had been forced to eat the crepe, found the first taste of the chocolate whipped cream not much different from regular whipped cream.

The cocoa powder was finely ground, preserving the fluffy texture of the whipped cream without compromising its smoothness.

The soft cream quickly filled her mouth, and like regular whipped cream, it stimulated her tongue with a subtle sweetness.

“…Hmm?”

‘Wait…? It’s not much different from regular whipped cream…’

Just as Liche was about to let her guard down, captivated by the warm texture and subtle sweetness of the whipped cream.

“Ugh…!?”

‘This is… bitterness!?’

Following the sweetness was a bitterness and aroma that exceeded her expectations.

Liche, who had never expected to taste bitterness in a dessert, instinctively frowned.

‘Bitterness in a dessert? What kind of absurd combination is this!?’

Not only was it unbearable that suspicious medicine had been added to the food, but adding bitterness, which didn’t fit the theme of a dessert, was equally unacceptable.

Because she, too, was a cook.

In her culinary sense, bitterness was the farthest taste from sweetness, the main theme of desserts, and should never be included.

No, bitterness was something that should be removed first when cooking, along with any off-flavors.

Just as she was about to express her anger at Kurt for ruining what should have been a sweet dessert.

The aroma of cocoa powder struck her taste and smell senses.

It was the unique scent of cocoa beans.

Despite it being the first time she had ever smelled it, it was a strangely captivating, almost bewitching aroma.

Sweet like butter, yet different from any other scent, deep yet subtle.

As she smelled the cocoa, the sweetness, bitterness, and aroma in her mouth began to blend into one.

And tasting it, Liche finally realized.

That this cream was meant to be a complete flavor, including the bitterness.

The bitterness from the cocoa powder wasn’t an obstacle to enjoying the taste.

Instead, combined with the cocoa’s aroma, it transformed into something indescribably luxurious and irreplaceable, unlike any other ingredient she had tasted before.

No, the more she tasted, the more she understood.

That the unique bitterness of cocoa powder acted as a stimulant, making its aroma even more pronounced.

And finally, the sweetness of sugar balanced the flavor, allowing the cocoa’s aroma to shine while minimizing the rejection caused by the bitterness.

At the same time, there was another aspect.

The bitterness and aroma of cocoa had another characteristic.

Whipped cream, no matter how smooth and sweet, is still a dairy product.

If consumed continuously, like any dessert, it can quickly become cloying.

Therefore, it’s important to eat it with fruit to avoid getting tired of it.

But this chocolate whipped cream, without any added fruit, could suppress the greasy sensation of fat with just the bitterness and aroma of cocoa.

In fact, chocolate made from cocoa beans consists mostly of cocoa butter or palm oil, aside from cocoa powder.

If you were to eat cocoa butter or palm oil raw, most people would give up before finishing half.

Cocoa powder is what allows people to eat several pieces of chocolate at once, despite it being a lump of fat.

So it was only natural that the cocoa powder in the chocolate whipped cream would counteract the greasiness of the whipped cream.

Impressed by the taste that exceeded her expectations, Liche savored the flavor of the chocolate whipped cream.

A bitterness that was hard to reject, combined with a subtle aroma.

It was, in a word, an adult’s taste.

And the sweetness and smoothness of the sugar and whipped cream that neutralized that dark flavor.

A taste that embraced everyone, from children to adults, like a caring older sister, mixed with the decadent, seductive flavor of cocoa, creating a new realm of taste she had never experienced before.

Gulp.

Unlike when she had been forced to eat it earlier, Liche now calmly closed her eyes and savored the flavor, then swallowed and looked at Kurt with respect in her eyes.

“This dish… it’s not strange at all. I thought it was a weird dish because it had some suspicious medicine I’d never seen before. But I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

“If you understand the taste of this chocolate whipped cream, that’s enough. I knew you would understand.”

“Heh. I see.”

With that, Liche smiled at Kurt, picked up her fork and knife, and began to slowly taste the chocolate whipped cream crepe Kurt had made.

Then, with lips that seemed more alluring than usual, she spoke.

“…Ah, by the way, Kurt. Isn’t it a bit hot today?”

“…Huh?”

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Clomp clomp.

“Phew… The request took longer than expected.”

“But at least we completed it successfully, so that’s good.”

“That’s true. Plus, we got some good loot from defeating the monster…”

“Right. Arisa has been feeling down lately, and Liche has been worried. Let’s give her the meat we got from today’s request and cook her something delicious. Kurt will understand, even if he feels a bit sorry.”

The two conversing were Karina and Serena.

They had just finished a request they received in the morning and were on their way back to the Adventurer’s Guild.

With a gift for their friend in hand.

As they imagined Liche’s happy face upon receiving the gift and hoped Arisa’s party would return to normal, they opened the door to the Adventurer’s Guild.

Here’s something to consider.

Cocoa powder was originally displayed in the medicine section of the Coconut Company.

And in Kurt’s previous life on Earth, it was also treated as a medicine.

The uses of cocoa included headache relief, digestion aid, fatigue recovery, and stimulant.

It was also occasionally used as an aphrodisiac and a love potion.

Moreover, what Kurt had bought was a premium product, even the Coconut Company’s best.

Kurt accepted it as having the best taste and aroma, but logically, if something displayed in the medicine section was labeled as premium, it couldn’t be because of its taste and aroma.

Naturally, when Tirmer said it was premium, he meant its medicinal effects were extremely potent.

“Heehee. Kurt, aren’t you hot? I’m hot, but you’re not? That’s not fair!!”

“That’s right! Kurt, take off your coat too!”

“You’re sticking to me, so of course I’m hot! Get off!”

Mari and Yuri, dressed lightly, clung to Kurt.

“Haah… This is delicious…♡”

Liche, who was just eating, somehow looked alluring.

Munch munch.

“….”

And Arisa, the chocolate elf, silently ate her dark cream crepe, as if she had been crying while drinking milk.

“….”

“…What is this?”

The scene was a complete mess.

It was spring.

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